Curious about something I observed flying back and forth to Lima this weekend. I'm Delta Platinum.

A350s with no PP but (substandard Delta 1). I was in regular economy going down (had the good exit row seat) and C+ on the way back. Both flights were completely full in Y with a handful of seats in C+ and 8/12 seats in D1. Standby list was 20+ long.

I figured they'd roll the cabin forward into D1/C+ and then fill the standbys into Y. Instead no one was rolled and the standbys cleared into D1/C+. Same thing happened in both flights.

What's up? Were the standbys buddy pass/employee folks?